https://techstockstandard.com/david-gardner-now-might-be-time-invest-internationally/35325/Investors have not been doing a happy dance during December. As of last week the S&P 500 index, made up of the largest U.S. publicly traded stocks, was down 10 percent so far this month. It could be worse. Most of the component stocks of the index have entered a bear market, which means they have declined more than 20 percent from their tops. The S&P itself is down 15 percent from its September high.